When we posted about the growing regions of cacao (Where in the World Does Cacao Grow?), we focused on the major growing hubs in the world with barely a mention about Hawaii’s cacao industry. And that’s because the amount of cacao grown in Hawaii as compared to the rest of the world, is merely a grain of sand on one of their gorgeous beaches.
This post is written to expand on the many virtues of Hawaiian cacao farming, and why it’s important to have domestic sources of cacao agriculture.
- Cocoa Butter. According to many cacao farmers located on the Hawaiian islands, cacao grown there has a higher cocoa butter content. Why? It has to do with the rich soil (volcanic soil has many minerals and retains water well). Chocolate manufacturers don’t need to add extra cocoa butter to their finished chocolate, a contrast to producers who use beans from other parts of the world. The cocoa butter is the fat of the cacao fruit. It’s responsible for the smooth, creamy taste of chocolate, and the reason chocolate must be tempered (raising the temperature, then lowering the temperature before chocolatiers can work with it) to avoid fat separation. Some say the cocoa butter content is up to 30% higher in beans that grow on these islands.
- No International Travel. The farms on the Hawaiian Islands are small to medium-sized businesses. Once a cacao pod is harvested from the tree, the beans (seeds) are removed, fermented and dried. In other parts of the world, the beans are then bagged in burlap sacks and shipped to chocolate manufacturers, most of whom operate in North America or Europe. Meaning the beans have to travel around the world in large shipping containers before reaching their final destination. From there, the beans are processed into couverture (finished blocks or wafers of chocolate with rich cocoa butter creaminess) before being shipped to chocolatiers to create finished products (think chocolate bars, truffles, caramels, barks, etc). Even small bean to bar manufacturers still have to import the cacao from Africa, Central or South America or other rain forest regions around the world. But in Hawaii, it goes from tree to bar, and only travels a few yards to, at most, a few miles.
- Ethics & Sustainability. Here’s the dark side of chocolate (well, cacao farming anyway). In the growing regions around the world, it is common to use child labor (and slavery). Many farms in The Ivory Coast, for example, are family run farms that require the entire family to participate in the family business. That means financial stability trumps education, safety standards and socialization. Children as young as five years old may be wielding machetes to break open the pods and put in long days on the farm, just to keep the family afloat. In the United States of America, there are specific child labor laws that forbid child labor. In addition, the Hawaiian Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity; along with the USDA and the industry’s self governing body Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Association, ensure that standards are being met long before chocolate reaches the consumers’ mouths. In recent years, cacao prices have skyrocketed due to disease of trees in the cacao growing belt, the new 15% tariffs, and that means the demand for cacao is now far higher than the supply. Add to that civil unrest in certain parts of the world, and it’s easy to see how expanding this thriving industry in the US makes a lot of sense. The problem of course, is there is only so much land on these islands and shipping raw ingredients to the mainland for chocolate manufacturers and chocolatiers to use is rarely financially feasible.
If you ever find yourself in Oahu, Maui, Kauai or the Big Island, book a tour at a cacao farm and prepare to be dazzled by the rich landscape and delicious chocolate.
